Sydney is heading for a climate emergency on its doorstep. The Federal Government’s National Climate Risk Assessment, released on 15 September 2025, makes it clear: our cities will heat up drastically, sea levels will rise, and the risk of flooding will escalate.

Yet the NSW Government continues to  grant new rights to developers and urban sprawl—pouring fuel on the climate fire—while failing to deliver the most basic adaptation measure Sydney needs: a comprehensive Blue-Green Grid.

We, at the Total Environment Centre (TEC), are calling for urgent, decisive action.

Without a legally binding Blue-Green Grid, Sydney will be locked into deadly heat, biodiversity collapse, and multi-million-dollar disasters for generations to come.

“The government is approving projects that add fuel to the climate fire and at best taking a partial, ad hoc approach to to a grid of open space and tree canopy. Every new concrete slab on our green spaces or foreshore is a disaster pre-booked for our future citizens We need a comprehensive Blue-Green Grid as a non-negotiable in land use decisions,” said Jeff Angel,Executive Director of Total Environment Centre.

Our Cities Can’t Wait

Total Environment Centre’s Urban Sustainability Campaigner, Saul Dean, emphasises that climate change adaptation at the state level must mean the implementation of a robust Blue Green Grid. He explains that, “Development must start retreating from the waterfront to mitigate flooding and erosion, but also, as importantly, entrench cool spaces for recreation, biodiversity and tree canopy in the face of an overheating city.”

The national climate risk report is a wake-up call for our Government,

• Urban heat crisis: Western Sydney will become one of the world’s worst urban heat sinks, with communities already facing dangerous extremes. We have long been advocating for better urban planning and construction that is energy and water efficient and cooling green spaces and tree canopy.
  
• Flooding and sea level rise: In 2009, we had the Sea Level Rise Policy, which was unfortunately rescinded in 2012 after developer lobbying. Since then, we have seen major projects go up hard against the foreshore and within a meter of the mean high watermark such as Barangaroo and now development at Blackwattle Bay. 
• Health impacts: The report shows that Sydney is expected to receive more than 444% increase in heat-related deaths. Western Sydney will be hit the hardest and is already experiencing killer heat threatened lives and livelihoods.
  
• Food supply: Farmers are adapting to climate pressure—our cities must adapt too.
  
• Biodiversity habitat destruction: Without a Sydney Koala Belt, Sydney’s last colonies, along with many other species, will vanish.
  

Total Environment Centre’s Call for Action

We are calling for immediate and decisive action from the state government, including:

1. Establish a legally binding Blue Green Grid and cross-jurisdictional body to implement a network of green corridors across Sydney.
2. Legislate a Waterfront Retreat: Reinstate and enforce a mandatory 30m setback from the foreshore for all development.
3. Declare a Sydney Koala Belt: Protect vital habitat on the city's fringe by immediately declaring a Koala Belt for Western Sydney, the worst affected urban heat sink.

Sydney cannot afford more climate inaction. The time for piecemeal gestures is over. TEC is demanding a non-negotiable commitment to a Blue-Green Grid to stop overdevelopment and protect Sydney’s future. These measures are not optional—they are the foundation of a liveable Sydney.

Read more about our Blue-Green Grid Vision and Strategy 

Take Action: Demand NSW Government Climate Leadership

We cannot allow short-term developer profits to compromise Sydney’s survival.

Send a message to Premier Chris Minns and Minister for Planning Paul Scully today, demanding urgent action on a legally binding Blue-Green Grid for Sydney.

Your action supports TEC’s fight to stop overdevelopment, protect koalas, and secure a cooler, greener, climate-resilient Sydney.